How the Recent Updates Will Impact the Future of Stellar Lumens (XLM)

Stellar Lumens (XLM) began its journey as a legitimate cryptocurrency in 2014. It was introduced as an open source protocol for value exchange to the traders. The past few years were not very fructuous for this coin as the price trend was generally downward due to the overwhelming influence of Bitcoin. However, the scenario started to change from the beginning of 2018 when Bitcoin’s price plummeted unprecedentedly and a significant number of traders started to have doubts about its stability. Stellar Lumens reached its apotheosis on January the 4^th of this year when its market cap crossed the 15 billion USD mark. Since then, this coin has been performing reasonably well although it has been unable to reach the magic figure once again.

Very recently, the XLM development team has taken a few initiatives in order to make this cryptocurrency protocol more efficient and advantageous to its users. Here, some of its most recent updates would be discussed in order to depict a picture of their probable impact on XLM’s future.

The USD Anchor Network Progress and Launching of SDEX:

According to the news revealed by the Reddit community of this currency, the XLM Stronghold is about to launch the first USD anchor in the blockchain system. The Stronghold exchange is dependent on the Stellar Networks designed to be intrinsic in the protocol as well as in the decentralized mechanism. Since the inception of Stellar Lumens in 2014, the Stronghold exchange platform has been supporting this coin and this event of launching a USD anchor would not be an exception as well. Once the launching is completed, the XLM holders would be able to deposit and withdraw USD from the aforementioned anchor rather easily unlike the coin swap mechanism of other coins. This USD anchor, combined with inexpensive transaction system of this platform, is likely to facilitate a swift exchange with various other assets.

Besides launching the USD anchor, the Stellar Development Platform (SDF) is also about to launch their own decentralized exchange named Stellar Decentralised Exchange or SDEX. Both of these upgrades are likely to be completed shortly.

Negotiations to Purchase Chain:

The Stellar team is currently negotiating in order to purchase Chain, a reputed firm based in the San Francisco area that predominantly focuses on the blockchain technology. This firm is well-known in the crypto-world for designing the Sequence platform which is basically a ledger capable of securely tracking and transferring balances in a token format. If the XLM team becomes able to secure this deal after negotiation, Sequence would make Stellar’s blockchain system accessible to the software development enthusiast. As an obvious ramification, the platform focus would shift from ledger infrastructure to product scaling.

If the deal goes through successfully, the mode of payment would manifestly be XLM, the default currency of Stellar Lumens platform. As a result, the usability of this currency as a legitimate medium of payment and transaction would be promulgated to myriads of traders across the world. The Stellar platform has already been able to raise a significant amount of money (over 43 million USD), majorly because of the support from organizations like Citi Ventures, VISA, NASDAQ, and many others. The Stellar team has also announced giving away a total of $500 worth of XLM coins once this deal is closed which would certainly augment its circulation and popularity further.

Other Notable Upgrades:

This cryptocurrency has been engaged in several lucrative partnerships over the past few months and awaiting profitable outcomes from them. For example, in May 2018, IBM strongly indicated the fact that they have been working on a brand new cryptocurrency based on the blockchain ecosystem of Stellar Lumens. Also, Kik, a familiar name in the messaging and chat sector has also mentioned their interest in designing a cryptocurrency based on the same platform.

On June 22 of this year, a reputed Philippines based bank RCBC opted for Stellar instead of Ripple as a medium of transaction. Also, XLM is one among the top seven cryptocurrencies that are expected to be legalized in Thailand shortly.

Current Condition of Stellar:

As of 26^th June 2018, Stellar Lumens holds the seventh position on the Coinmarketcap with a commendable market capitalization of circa 3.6 billion USD along with a price equivalent to nearly $0.19. Despite the universal downward trend in the cryptocurrency market, XLM has managed to exhibit some resilience in its price.

Final Thoughts:

Owing to the volatility of the cryptocurrency market, it is nearly impossible to predict the future of a coin accurately. According to many speculators, the price of Stellar is likely to dip a bit because of the $500 giveaway once this Chain purchase deal is done. However, after that sudden dip, the price is likely to go upward again rather expeditiously because of the new developments. Keeping these new upgrades in mind, it can be inferred that traders can still put their trust on this coin in 2018.

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Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Global Coin Report and/or its affiliates, employees, writers, and subcontractors are cryptocurrency investors and from time to time may or may not have holdings in some of the coins or tokens they cover. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency and read our full disclaimer.

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